First survey of fungi in hypersaline soil and water of Mono Lake area (California)

Abstract

Mono Lake is a closed lake located in central California, east of the Sierra Nevada mountains. It contains dissolved carbonates, sulfates and chlorides at high concentrations. Due to its high salinity, Mono Lake was sometimes compared to the Dead Sea. However, it appears that Mono Lake water and vicinity abound with life. In this work, the fungal flora living in this extreme ecosystem was studied for the first time. Soil, tufa, water and sediment samples were also analyzed for their mineral and salt composition. Results showed that water was particularly rich in sodium, potassium, phosphorus and boron. Soil and sediments contained very high levels of calcium and magnesium, but also barium, boron and strontium. Sodium, phosphorus and iron levels varied in a large extent from one to another sample. Neutral to very alkaline pH were recorded. Water samples were found sterile in the conditions chosen for fungi isolation, while sediment, soil and tufa samples led to the isolation of a total of 67 fungal species (from 23 samples), belonging to various taxonomic groups. From our results no clear effects of the chemical parameters of the samples were observed on fungal life apart from the pH. The methods chosen did not allow the isolation of extremely halotolerant species. We isolated in this work a series of ubiquitous species, suggesting that a selection of resistant and/or adaptable strains of some common species could have occurred. Depending on the medium and the temperature of isolation, it can be hypothesized that some species were present as dormant structures, while some others, isolated at pH 8 on a medium enriched in Na and Ca, could be in a growing form adapted to alkaline and saline conditions. This work contributes to a better knowledge of the mycobiota present in the Mono Lake's ecosystem.